People often ask me, "Is that ASL?" and the quickest response is, "yep". But technically in our household we use a combination of PSE & SEE. These is offshoots of ASL. Now you may be sitting there going.... "So, it's ASL". Yes... and No.
You see, ASL (American Sign Language) was originally derived from FSL (French Sign Language). The syntax of ASL is a little different than the English you and I learn in school and use on a daily basis. I tell other hearing people, "ASL is similar to how Yoda speaks- the order of words may be a little more jumbled up than how you and I speak". And it's true. In ASL there are 2 basic sentence structures. I won't get all grammar lesson on you now, but for context, these are examples:
ASL Sentence Structure: Time + Topic + Comment + Referent
In English we would say: "I'm going to Disney World tomorrow"
In ASL we would sign: "Tomorrow Disney World go me"
ASL Sentence Structure: Topic + Comment + Referent
In English we would say: "EPCOT is my favorite park"
In ASL we would sign: "EPCOT park favorite me"
When structuring a sentence in ASL, you have to keep this order:
Time = the tense.
Topic = the subject.
Comment = what is being said about the subject.
Referent = refers to the subject you are talking about.
So you can see that ASL does take some getting used to if you are learning the language. But for someone who grew up signing the language, it's the way language naturally develops. As such, ASL is the basis for both SEE and PSE.
Now you're probably asking, "Okay, so what is SEE & PSE?" Great question!! SEE stands for Signing Exact English, and PSE stands for Pidgin Signed Language. These are the languages that Michael and I use most in our daily lives. Like the names suggest- I sign words to him exactly as I say them. So most of the time I don't have to think about ASL grammar structures- I can just sign to him the words I am saying as I am saying them. I do however have to remember to add prefixes, tense, and endings onto my words so that Michael has as must context as possible to understand what I'm saying. For example, when I say:
"We are going to Magic Kingdom with our friends tomorrow"
I can sign each of those words but I have to remember to edit what I'm saying just a tad to make sure he fully understands what I'm saying. So when I sign it, it comes out looking like:
"We are going to Magic Kingdom with our friends tomorrow"
There are no signs for words like "are" or "to" (in ASL or PSE) - they aren't needed because a Deaf/HOH (hard-of-hearing) person can infer what I mean without those added small words. Now in true SEE I would actually spell out the words "are" and "to" as I sign, but Michael doesn't need me to, so I'm not in the habit of doing so. For Michael, he prefers that I add the ending of -ing to "going" so that it's a smoother sentence for him. Instead of me signing "We go Magic Kingdom...." by adding the -ing on the end of "go" it helps him understand the context of our timeline, or when we are going.
PSE or Pidgin Sign Language uses the same grammatical structure as SEE, but rather than signing EVERY word, I only have to sign the words that will give him the most context- like I explained above. PSE is the easiest of the 3 to learn and thus it is the most widely used in the U.S. Most Deaf/HOH people will understand what you are signing to them if you are using PSE.
Now, sometimes there are differences in signs. For example: "Walmart" has a few different signs depending on if you are using ASL, SEE, or PSE, and where you are regionally in the the country. I learned how to sign "Walmart" in Kentucky from Michael. For this sign I start by making a "W" at my chin" and moving my hand down toward my chest and changing my "W" to an "M" as my hand gets closer to my chest. When we moved to New York, I was told that's not how New York Signers sign Walmart- they tend to just spell out "W-A-L-M-A-R-T". So when I was talking to Michael, he knew what I was saying. When I was working with my students at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology), I had to remember to spell it out so that people understood me. If you are a beginner to learning Sign Language, this is not something you should worry about- as you develop your knowledge of the language, you'll get better at learning things like this, but for now just make sure you really have your ABC's down solidly, because if you ever don't know the sign for something, or you sign it and people look at you funny, you'll want to be able to spell the word out. Then the person you are speaking with can help you by teaching you the sign you need, or at least they will indicate they understand you.
But now you can see ASL is so much more than just hand gestures! It is a beautiful language with it's own grammar structures and syntax. And it does take a long time to learn (I've heard you aren't considered fluent until you've been signing for at least 7 years). My best advice is to practice every day. Even if you are slow at first, practice, practice, practice! And don't forget to ask questions. If you are unclear, or need help don't be afraid to reach out and ask!
We hope you have an ASOM Day!
-E & M
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